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You Mean We Have to Sell, Too?
So far we have focused on the internal component of innovative team selling, which is one of the three components to team selling. The other two are making outstanding team presentations and coordinating everybody's contributions.
We explained how your ability to conduct productive meetings, facilitate exciting creative sessions, leverage your resources, and plan effectively can all contribute to your success. Putting together mission statements, clarifying expectations, and agreeing on values are all critically important activities.
But once that is done, it's time to meet with your customers and present your recommendations. The team's challenge is to demonstrate their understanding of the client's situation and explain how the team can help them accomplish their objectives. That's where the external component takes center stage.
Most of the time sales calls are conducted by the sales professional and that is usually done alone. The team can help in the planning process, but the salesperson has the responsibility of meeting with the customer. But when sales teams visit customers, whether it's to help assess a situation at one extreme, or to make a formal recommendation at the other, so much is on the line. That's why it is mandatory for every member of the sales team to understand the sales process and know how to feel comfortable making meaningful and relevant contributions.
In my first book, Selling Is a Team Sport, we devoted significant time ...
